https://auns.com.au/category/national National news from AUNS — Breaking news, sport, politics, world and weather from across Australia. en-au editorial@auns.com.au (AUNS Editorial) https://auns.com.au/static/publisher-logo.png https://auns.com.au/category/national Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:15:00 GMT https://auns.com.au/article/20260715-falconio-25-years-unseen-photos NT Police marked 25 years since Peter Falconio's murder with unseen images and a renewed $500,000 reward to locate his remains. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:15:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260715-falconio-25-years-unseen-photos National https://auns.com.au/article/20260714-digital-arrival-cards-rollout A $56.1 million digital declaration is replacing the orange arrival card, starting at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports. Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:15:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260714-digital-arrival-cards-rollout National https://auns.com.au/article/20260713-h5-bird-flu-native-seabird-robe A greater crested tern found dead at Robe in South Australia is the first native Australian seabird confirmed with H5 bird flu. Every previous case was a migratory bird from the sub-Antarctic. There are now 13 confirmed detections nationally and none in poultry. Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260713-h5-bird-flu-native-seabird-robe National https://auns.com.au/article/20260711-telstra-triple-zero-acma-investigation Telstra ran 639 welfare checks on people who could not reach Triple Zero during this week's outage. The regulator is now investigating the company that both broke the network and operates the emergency line. Sat, 11 Jul 2026 01:30:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260711-telstra-triple-zero-acma-investigation National https://auns.com.au/article/20260711-derryn-hinch-dies-82 Derryn Hinch, who went to prison rather than pay a fine for naming a killer's criminal history, and who turned that record into a Senate seat, has died aged 82. Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260711-derryn-hinch-dies-82 National https://auns.com.au/article/20260710-dementia-leading-cause-death-aihw Dementia has overtaken heart disease as Australia's leading cause of death, the AIHW reports, as national health spending reaches $270.5 billion. Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:40:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260710-dementia-leading-cause-death-aihw National https://auns.com.au/article/20260709-telstra-outage-triple-zero-trains A software defect took down Telstra's mobile network for most of Wednesday, blocking 333 triple-zero calls and suspending Victoria's regional trains. The regulator is investigating. Wed, 08 Jul 2026 23:10:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260709-telstra-outage-triple-zero-trains National https://auns.com.au/article/20260707-space-balls-traced-foreign-rocket The Australian Space Agency says six spheres found on a north Queensland beach appear to be pressure vessels from a foreign rocket that re-entered from orbit. Tue, 07 Jul 2026 01:50:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260707-space-balls-traced-foreign-rocket National https://auns.com.au/article/20260706-victoria-street-ram-raid-fire A vehicle was driven into a Victoria Street shop about 4.15am Monday before the building was set alight. Around 80 firefighters brought the blaze under control by 6am, with about 10 shops damaged and no injuries. Sun, 05 Jul 2026 23:30:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260706-victoria-street-ram-raid-fire National https://auns.com.au/article/20260704-nsw-suspected-h5-bird-flu-hawks-nest A sick seabird found near Hawks Nest has returned a preliminary positive for H5 avian influenza, the first suspected case in NSW. Confirmatory testing is under way and no poultry is infected. Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260704-nsw-suspected-h5-bird-flu-hawks-nest National https://auns.com.au/article/20260702-supermarket-price-gouging-ban-commences A law making it illegal for Australia's two largest supermarkets to charge significantly excessive grocery prices took effect on July 1. Only Coles and Woolworths meet the $30 billion revenue threshold, and the ACCC can pursue penalties of up to the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10 per cent of turnover. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 23:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260702-supermarket-price-gouging-ban-commences National https://auns.com.au/article/20260627-social-media-teen-ban-fines-doubled The federal government will raise maximum penalties from $49.5 million to $99 million after the eSafety Commissioner found seven in ten under-16s with existing accounts still had some access to banned platforms, six months after the world-first ban took effect. Sat, 27 Jun 2026 06:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260627-social-media-teen-ban-fines-doubled National https://auns.com.au/article/20260627-h5-bird-flu-wild-birds-australia A brown skua found sick near Esperance tested positive to highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza on June 20, ending Australia's status as the only continental landmass free of the strain. By June 27, confirmed cases had spread to South Australia with a fifth case suspected. Sat, 27 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260627-h5-bird-flu-wild-birds-australia National https://auns.com.au/article/20260624-fuel-excise-inflation-trimmed-mean Australia's CPI fell to 4 per cent annually in May, driven largely by an 11.9 per cent drop in fuel prices from the temporary excise cut. But the trimmed mean, which strips out volatile items and is what the Reserve Bank watches, rose from 3.4 to 3.6 per cent. Wed, 24 Jun 2026 01:30:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Marcus Hale) https://auns.com.au/article/20260624-fuel-excise-inflation-trimmed-mean National https://auns.com.au/article/20260623-auction-clearance-rates-six-year-low Fewer than half of homes offered at auction sold last week, with the national clearance rate of 47.4 per cent the weakest reading since the pandemic's first lockdowns in April 2020, as federal budget changes to negative gearing reduce investor appetite. Tue, 23 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Marcus Hale) https://auns.com.au/article/20260623-auction-clearance-rates-six-year-low National https://auns.com.au/article/20260615-victoria-donations-laws-high-court A unanimous High Court ruling has invalidated Part 12 of Victoria's Electoral Act 2002, leaving the state temporarily without any valid donation disclosure framework after the court found the law unlawfully favoured major parties over independents. Sun, 14 Jun 2026 23:00:00 GMT editorial@auns.com.au (Claire Ashford) https://auns.com.au/article/20260615-victoria-donations-laws-high-court National